Mud Pit for Great Dane

Hello.

I have a medium sized back yard - 125'x50' approx. I have two dogs, Great Dane and Chihuahua mix. These boys love to run like crazy around the yard. We bought the house brand new and the lawn was not fully developed. Needless to say, these two have turned the sloping yard in a red clay mud pit. Half of the yard gets sunlight - just never the same half - front half in summer back half in winter (sort of).

What can i do to give them an area that isnt a veritable slip and slide of mud? And one we can enjoy for entertaining during good weather?

I live in Atlanta and also have 2 dogs and a similar situation. My 2 yellow Labradors can really do a number to the back yard. Having a fenced in backyard and a doggie door made it where the carpet had to be replaced with hardwood bamboo floors. If these dogs are in the backyard full time then there is no way you will get grass to grow back here. If these dogs only go outside to take care of business then there is a fighting chance.

My backyard is on the north side of the house with several hardwood trees surrounding it, making most of it heavy shade. The key is to train them to try to stay on the trails that they normally run on. These trails will have to be a thick layer of cypress mulch, as no grass will stand a chance in this area. My back yard has a large natural area with leaves and this is where the dogs do business.

Bermuda grass is the most prolific growing, self repairing grass on the market. Hybrid Bermuda sod is a more profuse grower than common Bermuda seed. Bermuda seed and typical Bermuda sods tolerate no shade therefore they may not work in your back yard. There are shade tolerant varieties Of Bermuda sod that can handle half a day of shade. These varieties also tolerate heavy foot traffic better than most other grasses. These varieties are Celebration Bermuda and TifGrand Bermuda.

Fescue would be the best option for shade in your area but it has no tolerance to foot traffic and dogs therefore it would not stand a chance. Whether you are starting seed or sod, you will need to block off the area where you are putting the grass for at least a month for the sod to take root and you would need to put the sod down in may once it is out of dormancy and actively growing. T posts and welded wire fencing is the cheapest and easiest was to temporarily block off an area from dogs.